Water everywhere but not a safe drop to drink

The vast water masses scattered randomly on the breadth of the semi-arid region offer a spectacular scene as they reflect the scorching sun above.

They are the Seven Forks hydro-power producing dams situated in the Mbeere region of Embu County, and partly in Machakos County, which supply most of Kenya’s electricity.

They are Masinga, Kaburu, Gitaru, Kindaruma and Kiambere dams - tens of kilometres from one to the next and filled through a cascading waterway.

Ironically, their presence has not improved lives of locals whose desire to be connected to the national grid remains a pipe dream.

It has been a life of struggle for the residents, who, despite being close to reservoirs with millions of litres of water, thirst for it for the better part of the year.

Their persistent cries to have access to water to previous governments fell on deaf ears, with some now in their advanced years thinking about the promises made by politicians and government officials that they would be supplied with water.

Angelica Nduku, a local, has spent all her adult life in want, scavenging for a commodity that should naturally come to her. “I spend a lot of time walking to fetch water. There is risk of crocodile and hippo attacks while fetching it,” says Ms Nduku, a widow who lives with her five grandchildren.

The 78-year-old like other women, has to walk up to 10km to access water sources as the government has not supplied them with the commodity despite passing a water budget every year.

Mzee Njeru Njagi, 75, who was hired as a casual during the dams' construction recalls bitterly the lofty promises given by government officials then. “We were promised that piped water would follow, but that never came to be.

Erratic supply

"We have lacked water since I was a child and now my grandchildren face the same problem,” says Njagi, who buys his water from vendors at Sh20 per 20-litre jerrican.

Donkeys are a common feature at the dams’ banks; those without donkeys carry water on their backs.

Fair enough, the government has over the years attempted to supply piped water to some areas, but this has done little to quench their thirst.

Embu County government, through Ewasco (Embu Water and Sanitation Company), provides piped water to parts of Mavuria Ward, but locals complain the supply is erratic.

Community water points

Last week, a group of women from far-flung parts of Mbeere South to Embu town travelled over 50km to demand for funds to have piped water availed to them.

Carrying gourds and water containers they use to fetch water from rivers Thiba, Tana and other water points, they demonstrated outside the county government headquarters and the County Assembly.

A few weeks earlier, Mavuria and Kiambere ward residents had held a demonstration. The locals left their businesses and laid siege at Gitaru Power Station, demanding KenGen start water projects that would quench their decade-old thirst.

In a memorandum they presented to KenGen, they claimed the national power generator blocked the common community water points during construction of the five dams by diverting the water from the river to underground tunnels.

This left them with no access to the river water that they had relied on for generations. They resorted to fetching water from rivers infested with crocodiles and hippos. Fifty two people have since been killed by crocodiles. Last month, Mawia King’ola, a 10-year-old Standard One girl was killed by a crocodile as she fetched water.

Every village on the shores of the dams has traumatic tales of residents who were killed by crocodiles and the number of livestock devoured by the reptiles is high.

Recently, Kiambere MCA Lenny Mwaniki rehabilitated the Kiambere New Site borehole that broke down 16 years ago. The borehole will supply clean water to the locals. “Kiambere area has not been supplied with water either by the government or KenGen,” says Mr Mwaniki.

Residents through Mwaniki and his Mavuria counterpart John Mbaka feel KenGen can alleviate their water problems by funding a water project from Kindaruma dam through Kindaruma hill to Mutuobare market, which would supply water to about 75 per cent of Kiambere residents.

“The firm should also consider establishment of common water points approximately 200 metres from the dams so as to prevent deaths from crocodiles,” the two leaders recently petitioned in a memorandum to KenGen.